a really stoopid newbie question.

[arimacias]

ok. so i have a macbook running PSE 6.
i just started digiscrapping after many many years of paper.
ALL my pictures are on CD's.
how do i get the picture to where i can use them? i hate them clogging up my hard drive and i do not own an EHD, but i would like one, any suggestions?
explain it to me like i am a 3 year old...cause i DO NOT want to mess up my puter. i love it so......
i need to use my pics off the cd's because $$ are TIGHT which is why i am digi'ing in the first place

[dugarner]

You'll probably need to go ahead and get an EHD. They are cheap---I think a 500 GB runs around $100, maybe even less. Lots of ladies here have found great deals on their EHDs. Mine is old, when it was $1/GB. But it's the most effective way to move them all into one spot. You should get some good recommendations. You can also search the forums for EHD, and see what folks have said.

[Joey_M]

NOw, I don't have a Mac, but can't you just pull your photos off of your CD (via photoshop) when you need them for a LO? I don't have a Mac ( ) so I am afraid to answer. Do you know how to open documents in photoshop? (I didn't when I first started!)

[dugarner]

LOL, Joey, I was assuming she was asking how to get them all in one place to consolidate them! I always overthink everything. But yes, she can pull them right off the CD, just open Elements Editor and drag-and-drop the pictures into the project bin. Right?

[HeatherPrins]

You can just put the cd into your computer then drag them into iphoto. I have thousands on mine.

[mugsbigsis]

BTW, there are no "stupid" question here at DD. Welcome!

[HeatherPrins]

that's for sure!! I continue to ask lots everyday, these guys are fabulous!!!

[katrinak]

You could buy a thumb drive (or 2) for even less than an external hard drive to save all of your layouts to! Then easy trip to the printer if you want to have them printed somewhere other than home May not be the most secure source, but you could easily back them up to CDs as well and just work from the thumb drive.

[Lynn Grieveson]

A lot of my older photos are on CD. I just pop the CD into the disk drive, then in Photoshop click on file-Open and look in the disk drive (on my PC it's the E drive).

:-)

[maureenreynolds]

As others have said, you can certainly use the pictures from your cds to work on layouts. Put the cd in, and pull up the photos from their into your PSE (File, open, and then go to the CD). It's the save location of your layouts that comes to my mind. I don't know if storage on your Mac is an issue. I took a quick look at my psd layouts and they range from 19-->245MB. I don't use a lot of embellishments or layers, tho 20-30 are what I usually have. My merged jpegs are almost all <1MB, so if you no longer want your psds, then you can get a LOT on even a 1GB flashdrive. It's the saving of the psds that takes space.

I had planned to look at burning a dvd this week of my psds but it didn't happen - I've never done a dvd. I also have a new 1T ehd as my new MyBook backup so the old one will be for external storage of photos and digitals. If you plan to print all your layouts right away, then the storage is kind of moot if money is tight. Finding your own priority in scrapping will help you determine your own needs. HTH.

[arimacias]

THANK YOU for all the help i am so very grateful.
i know what to do now.....AWESOME
my plan is to finish the pictures i have printed to now(just did the halloween ones) and then start digi scrapping from then on. i am doing my doggie pics digital just to keep things uniform cause i do need to practice.
it REALLY is cool not having to drag all the stuff out......